A County Carlow priest has come up with a proposal to make weddings cheaper for couples who are cash-strapped because of the recession. Fr Paddy Byrne says the enormous expense that traditional weddings entail could be cut out if couples got married during regular Sunday Masses and held receptions in their parish hall or their own house.
In his column in the Carlow Nationalist newspaper, Fr Byrne claims that traditional weddings are too stressful and typically cost €18,000, which makes them unaffordable to some in times of high unemployment.
And the bill for larger scale weddings with two hundred guests can reach €30,000 to €40,000, he understands.
"It saddens me when many couples tell me that they can't get married because they can't afford it,” he wrote.
“Other couples have told me that they find the detail of all that is involved too stressful and as a result don't get married”.
“For this reason, I wonder should we - as a Church and parishes - offer young couples an opportunity to celebrate marriage in the context of a Sunday Eucharist”.
Fr Byrne went on to point out that we are accustomed to celebrating baptisms, First Holy Communions and Confirmations on certain Sundays of the year.
“Why not have a Sunday in the month of June or July for couples who want to get married in all our parishes?" he asked.
"I think it would also be a beautiful parish experience: a Sunday Mass where the couples of the parish celebrate marriage together."
Fr Byrne said that half of the couples who have approached him this year have told him that if they had a choice, they would prefer to get married in a less stressful atmosphere.
"In these recessionary times people are open to other options," he claimed.
"Sometimes, when couples have been living together for a while, they are afraid of entering into a more serious commitment”, he continued.
“Marital breakdown is a reality in our society, but most couples enter into a marriage in the earnest belief that it is for the rest of their lives," he said.
Fr Byrne said the current traditional wedding was “a terrible waste of money that cripples young couples with huge debt in relation to getting married”.
He said it was “crazy” that it can cost €20,000 to get married while the cost of renting a local hall was as little as €20 an hour.
“Weddings are wonderful occasions of celebration. It is a beautiful experience to be present at a moment of great hope”.
He said his alternative wedding, held during Sunday Mass, would be a “beautiful parish experience”.
“The parish choir would lead the music ministry, the flowers for the occasion would be the flowers present in all our churches every Sunday and during the ceremony, the priest would simply invite all the couples present to come forward and then to give their consent”.
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